--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is the task of radical thought, since…" description: "\"It is the task of radical thought, since the world is given to us unintelligibly, to make it more unintelligible, more enigmatic, more fabulous.\" — Jea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg" --- # It is the task of radical thought, since the world is… ![“It is the task of radical thought, since the world is given to us unintelligibly, to make it more unintelligible, more enigmatic, more fabulous.” quote by Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg) > “It is the task of radical thought, since the world is given to us unintelligibly, to make it more unintelligible, more enigmatic, more fabulous.” [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Radical thought should complicate reality, turning the already confusing world into something even more mysterious and extraordinary. **In simple terms:** Make reality even more puzzling and spectacular. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity and mystery. Themes philosophy postmodernism culture critical theory Mood provocative intellectual Type analytical theoretical When to use this quote - art criticism - media analysis - theoretical research - academic debate Key Concepts hyperreality simulation enigmatic fabulous Questions to Reflect On - How does adding mystery affect understanding? - When is complexity beneficial? A Different Perspective Complexity can alienate audiences and hinder clear communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enigmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enigmatic/) [Fabulous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fabulous/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Make Unintelligible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-unintelligible-762917/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Radical Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical-thought-762915/) [Task Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/task-radical-762916/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) [Unintelligible Enigmatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unintelligible-enigmatic-762918/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the compositor to make it unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/a-malefactor-who-atones-for-making-your-writing-nonsense-by/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Radical thought has inspired many of the great political and social reform movements in American history, from ending slavery to establishing the minimum wage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-bernstein/radical-thought-has-inspired-many-of-the-great-political-and-social/) [Carl Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-bernstein/) > [We had people who did housing, people who did anti-war, people who did schools. Everyone operated in their own niche, but not separately. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-stewart/we-had-people-who-did-housing-people-who-did-anti-war-people-who-did/) [Lynne Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-stewart/) > [Nothing is wholly obvious without becoming enigmatic. Reality itself is too obvious to be true .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/nothing-is-wholly-obvious-without-becoming-enigmatic-reality-itself/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [I am a radical in thought (and principle) and a conservative in method (and conduct).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/i-am-a-radical-in-thought-and-principle-and-a-conservative-in-method/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Critical and radical thought will only bear fruit when it is blended with the most precious quality man is endowed with - the love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/critical-and-radical-thought-will-only-bear-fruit-when-it-is-blended/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [There's a lot of active radical thought today but not much action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-stewart/there-s-a-lot-of-active-radical-thought-today-but-not-much-action/) [Lynne Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-stewart/) > [“Most of Mycroft's ideas were far too dangerous to even think about, much less let loose on a world unprepared for hyper-radical thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/most-of-mycroft-s-ideas-were-far-too-dangerous-to-even-think-about/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [“Any radical thought always adopts the most extreme position of desperation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-radical-thought-always-adopts-the-most-extreme-position-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For me, the photography, in its purest form, is a variant of the fable. Another way of saving the appearances - a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/for-me-the-photography-in-its-purest-form-is-a-variant-of-the-fable/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [They wanted Bridgette to be this extremely enigmatic character. Im about the least enigmatic person on the planet, so I just thought what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-kidder/they-wanted-bridgette-to-be-this-extremely-enigmatic-character-im/) [Margot Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-kidder/) > [“Why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/why-do-people-want-to-talk-to-each-other-i-mean-what-are-the-things/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [His face was in my neck and he was breathing hard. Was he grieving me? Already? Would he miss me? Had I, in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/his-face-was-in-my-neck-and-he-was-breathing-hard-was-he-grieving-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Kate Bernheimer's fiction offers a unique and delicate gift, the tempting mirage of a grace that constantly escapes. The Complete Tales of Merry Gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-millet/kate-bernheimer-s-fiction-offers-a-unique-and-delicate-gift-the/) [Lydia Millet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-millet/) > [ Content to me is very important, but I like it when \[the photograph\] is also enigmatic. If you don't know what it is you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gutmann/content-to-me-is-very-important-but-i-like-it-when-the-photograph-is/) [John Gutmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gutmann/) ## More by Jean Baudrillard > [“The whole gestural system of work was also obscene, in sharp contrast to the miniaturized and abstract gestural system of control to which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-whole-gestural-system-of-work-was-also-obscene-in-sharp-contrast/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [“We will live in this world, which for us has all the disquieting strangeness of the desert and of the simulacrum, with all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/we-will-live-in-this-world-which-for-us-has-all-the-disquieting/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/there-is-nothing-funny-about-halloween-this-sarcastic-festival/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The sickly cultural pathos which the whole of France indulges in, that fetishism of the cultural heritage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sickly-cultural-pathos-which-the-whole-of-france-indulges-in-that/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [“We need a visible past, a visible continuum, a visible myth of origin to reassure us as to our ends, since ultimately we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/we-need-a-visible-past-a-visible-continuum-a-visible-myth-of-origin/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [History that repeats itself turns to farce. Farce that repeats itself turns to history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/history-that-repeats-itself-turns-to-farce-farce-that-repeats-itself/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Perhaps our eyes are merely a blank film which is taken from us after our deaths to be developed elsewhere and screened as our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/perhaps-our-eyes-are-merely-a-blank-film-which-is-taken-from-us-after/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [If everything is perfect, language is useless. This is true for animals. If animals don't speak, it's because everything's perfect for them. If one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/if-everything-is-perfect-language-is-useless-this-is-true-for-animals/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [There exists, between people in love, a kind of capital held by each. This is not just a stock of affects or pleasure, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/there-exists-between-people-in-love-a-kind-of-capital-held-by-each/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/when-the-real-is-no-longer-what-it-used-to-be-nostalgia-assumes-its/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [With the truth, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible and pass it on to someone else. As with illness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/with-the-truth-you-need-to-get-rid-of-it-as-soon-as-possible-and-pass/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [You have to know how to disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/you-have-to-know-how-to-disappear/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Large department stores, with their luxuriant abundance of canned goods, foods, and clothing, are like the primary landscape and the geometrical locus of affluence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/large-department-stores-with-their-luxuriant-abundance-of-canned/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sad-thing-about-artificial-intelligence-is-that-it-lacks-artifice/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) [Explore all 228 Jean Baudrillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) ## More Enigmatic quotes > [ Content to me is very important, but I like it when \[the photograph\] is also enigmatic. If you don't know what it is you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gutmann/content-to-me-is-very-important-but-i-like-it-when-the-photograph-is/) [John Gutmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gutmann/) > [Kate Bernheimer's fiction offers a unique and delicate gift, the tempting mirage of a grace that constantly escapes. The Complete Tales of Merry Gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-millet/kate-bernheimer-s-fiction-offers-a-unique-and-delicate-gift-the/) [Lydia Millet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-millet/) > [His face was in my neck and he was breathing hard. Was he grieving me? Already? Would he miss me? Had I, in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/his-face-was-in-my-neck-and-he-was-breathing-hard-was-he-grieving-me/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/why-do-people-want-to-talk-to-each-other-i-mean-what-are-the-things/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [They wanted Bridgette to be this extremely enigmatic character. Im about the least enigmatic person on the planet, so I just thought what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-kidder/they-wanted-bridgette-to-be-this-extremely-enigmatic-character-im/) [Margot Kidder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-kidder/) > [“The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and scurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/the-rabbit-started-violently-dropped-the-white-kid-gloves-and-the-fan/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Sometimes I think I am going mad. I live for days in the mystery and tears of things so that the commonest object, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-n-p-barbellion/sometimes-i-think-i-am-going-mad-i-live-for-days-in-the-mystery-and/) [W.N.P. Barbellion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-n-p-barbellion/) > [Most pioneers are at the mercy of doubt at the beginning, whether of their worth, of their theories, or of the whole enigmatic field…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/most-pioneers-are-at-the-mercy-of-doubt-at-the-beginning-whether-of/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The smudging makes the paintings a bit more complete. When they're not blurred, so many details seem wrong, and the whole thing is wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-smudging-makes-the-paintings-a-bit-more-complete-when-they-re-not/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [There are many artists that I know exactly where they are born and what their names are and where they live, which are still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-forge/there-are-many-artists-that-i-know-exactly-where-they-are-born-and/) [Tobias Forge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-forge/) > [I heard Joby Talbot's Hovercraft piece for orchestra and felt its immediate physical impact - visceral, unsettling, hungry and direct. These short five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-mcgregor/i-heard-joby-talbot-s-hovercraft-piece-for-orchestra-and-felt-its/) [Wayne McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-mcgregor/) > [Gregorius was never to forget this scene. They were his first Portuguese words in the real world and they worked. That words could cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pascal-mercier/gregorius-was-never-to-forget-this-scene-they-were-his-first/) [Pascal Mercier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pascal-mercier/) > [When I think about my own work, there usually is one or the other light bulb moment where there is this flash of insight.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ono/when-i-think-about-my-own-work-there-usually-is-one-or-the-other/) [Ken Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ono/) > [What passes for love is imperfect knowledge. Not knowing, initially, allows faithlessness to dress up as its opposite; casts the inarticulate as enigmatic, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/what-passes-for-love-is-imperfect-knowledge-not-knowing-initially/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [I'm well aware that I have been described in some quarters as being 'enigmatic, taciturn, prickly, explosive and forbidding'. Well, I have my moods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/i-m-well-aware-that-i-have-been-described-in-some-quarters-as-being/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) [Browse all 92 Enigmatic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enigmatic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is the task of radical thought, since the world is given to us unintelligibly, to make it more unintelligible, more enigmatic, more fabulous.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Baudrillard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since-the-world-is-given-to-us/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enigmatic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since-the-world-is-given-to-us/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/761/jean-baudrillard-1500_enigmatic_it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since_852332.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is the task of radical thought, since the world is given to us unintelligibly, to make it more…” — Jean Baudrillard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jean Baudrillard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is the task of radical...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since-the-world-is-given-to-us/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/it-is-the-task-of-radical-thought-since-the-world-is-given-to-us/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```